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From Fighting Irish Media ...
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Adding to his list of some of college football’s top accolades, graduate student linebacker Jack Kiser has been selected as a finalist for the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy, college football’s premier award for community service.
The Allstate Wuerffel Trophy is presented to one of the 11 FBS players elected to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team who best combines exemplary community service with leadership and performance on and off the field.
Kiser was selected as a finalist from a group of 11 semifinalists that make up the AFCA Allstate Good Works Team. Finalists were selected by a national voting committee, including a fan vote. The 2024 Wuerffel Trophy recipient will also be recognized as the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team captain.
Notre Dame has had one winner of the Wuerffel Trophy, linebacker Drue Tranquill in 2018. This marks the second-straight season that a Notre Dame player has been named a finalist for the honor, as linebacker JD Bertrand was a 2023 finalist. Other Notre Dame finalists include Tranquill in 2017 and linebacker Brandon Hoyte in 2005. Prior to the two awards merging, Notre Dame tight end Nic Weishar was named the AFCA Good Works Team Captain in 2018.
In addition to being named a member of the 2024 AFCA Good Works Team, Kiser has already been honored as a finalist for the 2024 William V. Campbell Trophy and a finalist for the 2024 Freddie Solomon Community Spirit Award.
One of the most tenured players on Notre Dame’s roster and a team captain, Kiser is in his sixth season playing for the Irish and leads the linebacker room. Kiser owns 241 career tackles, 14.0 tackles for loss, 5.0 sacks, four interceptions (two pick-sixes), 11 passes defended, five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and a blocked kick. He leads the Irish in tackles this season with 56.
Kiser holds the Notre Dame record for most games played in an Irish uniform (65). Kiser’s 65 games rank tied for first among all active FBS players in career games played for a single program, and third among all active FBS players in career games played. He has played in 59-consecutive games, a streak which ranks tied for second among all active FBS players (not including transfers).
Kiser has led and participated in several community-facing initiatives during his time at Notre Dame. He has twice served as the player committee chairman for the program’s Cleats For a Cause initiative, which uses custom footwear to raise awareness for local nonprofits, then auctioning off the shoes with the proceeds benefiting the organizations. In his role, Kiser chaired the player committee, which selected the charities that were featured in the initiative, communicated directly with the charities and made appearances, and worked with the designer of the shoes. Throughout the months leading up to the initiative this season, he organized players to volunteer at and support charities that will benefit from the initiative.
He served as the Fighting Irish Fight for Life football team lead for the past three years, from Fall 2020-Spring 2023, a program which pairs a local pediatric patient with Notre Dame Athletics teams to become a true teammate.
Additionally, Kiser worked with local low-income families to perform tax returns this past spring on a weekly basis leading up to Tax Day. He has also made an impact in his home community, as he visited his former youth football team to surprise local kids from his area, spend time with the team, and give them tickets to a Notre Dame Football game.
Kiser has also been involved in the Notre Dame chapter of Uplifting Athletes, supporting the local rare disease community and their families, and would also regularly visit patients and families at the Ronald McDonald House on home game Fridays with head football coach Marcus Freeman.
Owning two Notre Dame degrees, Kiser is a force in the classroom. He achieved a 3.82 undergraduate GPA, majoring in business analytics, and a 3.97 GPA to earn his master’s degree in accountancy. He earned selection to the 2024 National Football Foundation Honor Society, and in 2023 was awarded the Dean’s Graduate Business Award and the Tom Frecka Academic Achievement Award, recognizing the top GPA in the Master’s of Science in Accountancy program at Notre Dame.
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